Search and (In)Visibility in e-Commerce Platforms: A Case Study of Consumables

Abstract

e-Commerce platforms impose search frictions of many variations on their users - end users or consumers in particular - in order to create information bottleneck, gain market power through the control of information visibility, and become attention oligopoly. This paper collected data from 10,080 records searching for 21 products across 7 categories of consumables on the two largest e-Commerce platforms in Thailand. The search keywords results reveal only 15 percent of designated products matched consumer searches, and those products, on average, are ranked sixth (out of 1 to 10). Moreover, platforms use (in)visibility for some products and discriminate against users on their dedicated platforms. Geographical discrimination in the display of search results is also evident. Price differences for consumables, which generally range from 7.72 percent cheaper than the average retail price to 8.47 percent more expensive than the average retail price, are significantly intensified on platforms. They are priced 91.72 percent cheaper than the average retail price and a staggering 573.12 percent more expensive than the average retail price, signifying their tremendous abilities to influence prices. Regulations on platforms should seriously consider how to regulate platforms’ abilities to control information shown to their users.